The Wolves of Hyrule
by Tabitha Hope
Summary: This is my first story, so I'd love some feedback : After fending off Zant at Lake Hylia, can Link and Midna help a pack of wolves face their demons?


**Fan Fiction: The Wolves of Hyrule**

The pounding sound of heavy hooves. Fur matted with blood. Fang crunch on bone. Tusks slam into fang. The wolves, who had occupied their vast territory of Hyrule plains for countless generations, were forced to leave their home as the terrible monsters and their wild boars chased them down.

"Run," they cried to each other, "Run as fast as you can, don't look back..."

***

Link now knew what he had to do. After the harrowing encounter with Zant at Lake Hyrule, he had been cursed with an evil piece of dark shard which had left him trapped in his wolf form. Midna would have died if it weren't for Princess Zelda, who had healed her. "In order to change back to your true form," she had told him, "You must find the Master Sword. Its power will transform you back."

Now he was traveling back in Faron Woods. He wondered how long it had been since he was able to ride through this forest on Epona in a time where there were no monsters, no threats, no Twilight Realm. His head still ached from where the dark shard had been absorbed. In his shadow lurked Midna, still shaken from her ordeal.

They were in southern Hyrule field with the woods on the horizon. Though the last time Link had experienced his beast form had been in quite troublesome situations, he had begun to enjoy the feeling of the wind tearing through his fur as he sprinted flat out across the field. Midna remained silent. Normally she would have conjured up some snide remark just to pass the time, but he could tell something was on her mind.

"Link," she whispered out of the blue from her dark shelter. "Is it too late to apologize?"

The wolf skidded to a halt in the heat of the sun to allow her to creep into the open in her ghostly form. "Apologize? For what?"

"Well..." she looked away, embarrassed. "I could have saved you back there, but I didn't try hard enough. Now you're trapped in a dog's body, and it's all my fault."

Link grinned a wolfish grin. "No, Midna, it's not. You did try, but Zant is strong, and we're too weak right now. You heard what the Princess said, we have to find the Master Sword. We've already defeated giant man-eating plants, sea monsters...how hard could it be?"

"Even though you only won by _this much_."Midna held her forefinger and thumb about half a centimeter apart in front of Link's nose. She grinned back, her spirits lifting.

"You wish," he growled playfully.

They laughed. They could get through this.

But then the wind changed, and it brought a foul smell with it. With his heightened senses, Link had come to know that smell very well. Goblins and their giant boars. There was something else in the air though, too.

"Link, what are they doing there?" Midna pointed to a group of figures emerging from Faron Woods. Sure enough, they were the goblins. One was riding a giant boar, while two more were on foot, dragging behind them a small, black shape.

"I don't know...but it doesn't look good. Stay with me." Link tensed, then leaped into action. The goblins didn't know what had hit them. One minute they were strolling out of the woods with a successful capture, the next, one of them had a wolf latched onto his throat. He went down quickly. The goblin beside him watched with his ugly face screwed up with terror as the beast snarled at him, his comrade's black blood still smeared across it's muzzle. That was the last thing he saw.

The boar had begun to panic, but the rider held sway and guided the hulking beast to the prisoner. Link watched as they hoisted the body over its snout, and his heart skipped a beat. It was a wolf. Her jet black fur was matted with blood. He was sorry to see a fellow wolf in such as state. The boar and its rider took off further into the field, and Link was quick to give chase.

He was swift to catch up and run along side them. The boar heaved him away with their great shoulders, but he managed to spring forward and strike the rider, sending him plummeting to the ground. The fall broke the goblin's neck, and his boar dropped the wolf and ran for the hills.

With the brawl over, Link breathed a heavy sigh. His chest heaved as he wandered over to where the injured wolf lay.

"Are you OK?" he whispered. The wolf creaked back to life and raised her head. But upon seeing her rescuer's bloody maw, her body became rigid.

"Please don't hurt me. They sent you to finish me off, didn't they? Please don't do it."

"No! You have it all wrong." Midna cried, springing out of Link's shadow. "Link killed all the goblins and saved you. Nobody will hurt you now."

"Shyla!" came a distressed yell from behind them. Another wolf was sprinting towards them. He stopped just meters away from where Link stood. His hackles were raised, his fangs bared. "Don't you dare touch her, stranger," he snarled, "or I'll tear you apart!"


End file.
